DAMASCUS, SYRIA (JUNE 23, 2025) (ANADOLU – ACCESS ALL) SHOTLIST: 1. VARIOUS OF MASS HELD AT MAR ELIAS CHURCH, PEOPLE LISTENING TO PRAYERS AND SPEECHES HONORING VICTIMS DAMASCUS, SYRIA - JUNE 23, 2025: A memorial service was held at Mar Elias Church in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Monday, June 23, where citizens condemned all forms of terrorism. In Duveyla, residents honored the victims by hanging white flowers on the church walls and decorating streets with white ribbons. The death toll from a terror attack on a church has risen to 25, the Health Ministry said on Monday. A suicide bomber from the ISIS (Daesh) terror group opened fire Sunday inside Mar Elias Church in the east of Damascus before blowing himself up. A ministry statement cited by the state news agency SANA said that 63 other people were injured in the attack. Although the Syrian Interior Ministry stated that ISIS was involved in the terror attack, no group has yet claimed responsibility. Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa denounced the terror attack and conveyed his condolences to the families of the victims. "Today, we all stand together, rejecting injustice and criminality in all its forms, and we pledge to the bereaved that we will continue day and night, mobilizing all our competent security services, to arrest everyone who participated and planned this heinous crime and bring them to justice to receive their just punishment,” Sharaa said. The attack “reminds us of the importance of solidarity and unity of the government and the people in facing all that threatens our nation’s security and stability,” he added. Arab and European countries also condemned the church attack, stressing the rejection of all forms of violence and terrorism aimed at destabilizing security and stability in the region. Since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime, Syria’s security services have continued to pursue individuals accused of involvement in crimes, human rights violations, and terrorism-related activities. Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia in December, ending the Baath Party’s regime, which had been in power since 1963. Sharaa, who led anti-regime forces to oust Assad, was declared president for a transitional period in January.